30th. The _ratification_ of the witnesses shall take place before responsible persons, such as two priests, Christians of an ancient race, and of a pure life and reputation. The witnesses shall be asked in their presence if they recollect having deposed in any trial before the Inquisition: if they reply in the affirmative, they shall be questioned on the circumstances, and the persons interested in it. When they have given satisfaction on this article, they shall be informed that the fiscal has presented them as witnesses in the trial of the prisoner. Their first declaration shall be read to them, and if they say that they have attested those facts, they shall be required to ratify them, making any additions, suppressions, explanations, and alterations, which they may think proper. These shall all be mentioned in the verbal process: it shall also be stated if the witness is at that time at liberty or detained in the chamber of audience, or in his chamber, and why he has not appeared in the ordinary place. 31st. When the ratification of the witnesses is concluded, the publication shall be prepared, taking a copy of each deposition; it shall be literal, except in all that may tend to discover the witnesses to the accused. If the declaration is too long, it shall be divided into several chapters. At the publication of the depositions, they shall not be read to the accused all at once, nor all the articles of a long declaration. The first head of the deposition of the first witness shall be read to him, that he may reply to it with more precision and facility; they shall then pass to the second chapter, then to the third, following the same order in all the depositions. The inquisitors shall hasten, as much as possible, the publication of the depositions, to spare the accused the anxiety of a long delay; they shall avoid all that may lead him to suppose that new charges have been brought against him, or that those already made are more extended than in their own declarations; and although such circumstances may have occurred, and the accused has denied the charges, they shall cause the delay of the formalities and the conclusion of the trial. 32nd. The inquisitors shall fulfil the form of the _publication_, dictating to the recorder all that is to be written in the presence of the accused, or they shall write it themselves and sign it. This writing shall be dated with the year, the month, and the day, when the witness deposed, provided that it is not convenient to do so; it would be improper if the deponent was in prison. They shall also mention the time and place when the facts occurred, because this is useful to the accused in his defence; but the place must only be designated in general terms. In the copy of the deposition the _third person_ shall be used, although the witness spoke to the _first_. Thus it must be said: The witness has seen or heard the accused conversing with an individual, &c.[25]